JP2011154797A - Organic el device and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an organic EL device and an electronic apparatus in which, when vapor depositing is carried out by using a mask, peeling of a part of a composition material adhered on the mask and occurrence of a light emitting deffect are prevented. <P>SOLUTION: The organic EL device is provided with an organic EL element 70 haivig an organic functional layer 40 including at least an organic light emitting layer between a pixel electrode 20 and a counter electrode 60. The pixel electrode 20 is arranged on a substrate 10, barrier ribs 34 are provided surrounding the pixel electrode 20, a mask spacer 37 of a projection type is arranged on the barrier ribs 34, the organic functional layer 40 is arranged on the pixel electrode 20 and the barrier ribs 34, the counter electrode 60 is arranged on the organic functional layer 40, an auxiliary counter electrode 50 is arranged on the counter electrode 60 located right above the barrier ribs 34, and an inorganic film 62 is arranged between the counter electrode 60 and the auxiliary counter electrode 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an organic EL device and an electronic apparatus.

  In recent years, with the diversification of information equipment and the like, there is an increasing need for flat display devices that consume less power and are lighter. As one of such flat display devices, an organic electroluminescence device (organic EL device) that performs display by emitting light from an organic electroluminescence device (organic EL device) having a functional layer (organic functional layer) including an organic light emitting layer. ) Has been proposed.

  The organic EL device has a so-called top emission method in which light emitted from an organic EL element is extracted from a side opposite to the substrate side on which the element is formed, and is transmitted through the substrate from the side on which the organic EL element is formed. There are two types of display methods, the so-called bottom emission method. Comparing these two types of display methods, the top emission type organic EL device has a structure that is easy to increase the pixel aperture ratio and is advantageous for high definition and high image quality of the display screen.

  Moreover, in an organic EL device, it is necessary to use a light-transmitting electrode as an electrode on the side from which light emitted from the light emitting layer is extracted. Therefore, in the top emission method, the cathode (electrode) on the light extraction side needs to be light transmissive. As such a light-transmitting cathode, a light-transmitting property is imparted, for example, by sufficiently forming a metal material (alloy material) such as silver, aluminum, or MgAg into a thin film.

  However, the transparent (light transmissive) cathode formed in this way has a high resistance value due to the physical properties (conductivity) of the forming material itself and the reduced cross-sectional area due to the formation of a thin film. Become. Therefore, particularly in the case of a large organic EL display (organic EL device), due to the voltage drop of the cathode that becomes remarkable due to the high resistance value, for example, between the organic EL elements at the outer peripheral portion and the central portion of the display region. As a result, there is a problem in that the luminance varies, and the display quality deteriorates due to display unevenness such as light emission unevenness and luminance unevenness.

  Therefore, an auxiliary electrode (auxiliary wiring) is formed in a state where it is in conduction with the transparent cathode, and the resistance of the cathode is set to the resistance of the entire electrode including the transparent cathode and the auxiliary electrode, thereby substantially reducing the cathode. It has been proposed to realize resistance and eliminate display unevenness.

  By the way, as a formation method of the said functional layer in an organic EL element, wet coating methods (liquid phase method), such as an inkjet method, and a vapor deposition method (vapor phase method) are known. In addition, regardless of the liquid phase method or the gas phase method, in order to prevent a short circuit between the pixel electrodes (anodes) and to ensure insulation between pixels (between organic EL elements), pixel electrodes ( A method of forming a partition wall on a substrate in a state of surrounding an anode) is known. By forming such a partition wall, for example, even when a functional layer is formed on the entire surface by vapor deposition, each pixel can be separated and independent, and the emitted light is emitted to the adjacent pixel side. Thus, it is possible to prevent the desired display performance from being obtained. Further, by forming the auxiliary electrode as a wiring on such a partition wall, it is possible to realize a substantial reduction in resistance of the cathode as described above.

  By the way, when forming an auxiliary electrode as a wiring on a partition, it is usually formed on a transparent cathode by mask vapor deposition of a highly conductive metal material such as Al. At this time, if the auxiliary electrode passes directly above the pixel electrode, and thus passes through the pixel, the light emission from the pixel is partially blocked, and the display performance is impaired. Therefore, when performing mask vapor deposition for forming such an auxiliary electrode, the mask is closely attached to the transparent cathode, and the auxiliary electrode is selectively formed with high accuracy and directly above the partition without being displaced. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-141821 A

However, when the mask is brought into close contact with the transparent cathode, the transparent cathode has a thin thickness of, for example, about 10 to 50 nm. Therefore, the transparent cathode and the organic functional layer that is the lower layer adhere to the mask. When removed, a part of the transparent electrode material and the underlying organic functional layer material may be peeled off from the substrate side and transferred to the mask. Then, the organic functional layer material transferred in this manner is subsequently dropped from the mask to become a foreign substance, and falls on the pixel portion, thereby causing a light emission defect.
Further, when the mask comes into contact with the transparent cathode on the pixel, there is a possibility that a light emission defect may be caused by damaging the pixel portion.

Therefore, when an organic EL device is formed with high accuracy by a vapor deposition method using a mask, a protruding mask spacer is provided on the partition in order to prevent the mask from adhering more than necessary to the transparent cathode of the device substrate. It is possible.
However, when an organic EL element is formed by a vapor deposition method, the organic EL element having a multilayer structure is formed by repeating the vapor deposition several times. At this time, for example, when vapor deposition is performed using a mask having a large opening, a mask spacer is formed. A material for forming an organic functional layer (organic functional layer material) and a cathode material are also deposited on the top, and are attached thereto.

  Then, when the auxiliary electrode is formed by the vapor deposition method, the mask adheres to the transparent cathode on the mask spacer, so that the cathode material or the organic functional layer material attached on the mask spacer is transferred to the mask, and then the above-mentioned As described above, it may fall off from the mask to become a foreign substance and fall on the pixel portion to cause a light emission defect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is that when vapor deposition is performed using a mask, the constituent material adheres to the mask and a part thereof peels off, causing a light emitting defect. An object of the present invention is to provide an organic EL device and an electronic device that are prevented from being lost.

In order to achieve the above object, an organic EL device of the present invention is an organic EL device including an organic E element having an organic functional layer including at least an organic light emitting layer between a pixel electrode and a counter electrode. ,
The pixel electrode provided on the substrate;
A partition wall surrounding the pixel electrode;
A protruding mask spacer provided on the partition;
The organic functional layer provided on the pixel electrode and the partition;
The counter electrode provided on the organic functional layer;
An auxiliary counter electrode provided on the counter electrode located immediately above the partition;
And an inorganic film provided between the counter electrode and the auxiliary counter electrode.

  According to this organic EL device, since the inorganic film is provided between the counter electrode and the auxiliary counter electrode, even when the mask is brought into close contact with the mask spacer when the auxiliary counter electrode is formed by vapor deposition, As described above, since the inorganic film is provided directly on the mask spacer so as to cover the counter electrode, the counter electrode material and the organic functional layer forming material adhering to the mask spacer may be transferred to the mask. It is prevented. Therefore, since the light emitting defect due to the adhesion of these materials to the mask is prevented, the display performance is high.

Further, in the organic EL device, the partition is partitioned into a formation region where the mask spacer is formed and a non-formation region where the mask spacer is not formed, the inorganic film is made of an insulating film, and is formed on the formation region. It may be selectively formed.
According to this configuration, since the inorganic film made of an insulating film is not formed in the non-formation region, the auxiliary counter electrode is connected to the counter electrode in the non-formation region and becomes conductive. Therefore, it is not necessary to form contact holes in the inorganic film, and the structure is simplified.

In the organic EL device, the inorganic film may be made of a conductive film.
In this way, the inorganic film also functions as an auxiliary counter electrode.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the organic EL device described above.
According to this electronic apparatus, as described above, since the organic E device in which the occurrence of light emission defects is prevented is provided, the display device has high display performance.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the wiring structure of the organic electroluminescent apparatus concerning this invention. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an organic EL device according to the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged plan view which shows 1st Embodiment of the organic electroluminescent apparatus of this invention. (A)-(c) is arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a top view of a vapor deposition mask. It is a principal part enlarged plan view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the organic EL apparatus of this invention. (A), (b) is sectional drawing of the arrow of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the electronic device using the organic EL apparatus of this invention.

Hereinafter, an organic electroluminescence device of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an organic EL device) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing referred to below, the size of each part is appropriately changed and shown in order to make the drawing easy to see.
First, a schematic configuration of the organic EL device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a wiring structure of an organic EL device 1 according to the present invention. This organic EL device 1 is of an active matrix type using thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFTs) as switching elements, and has a plurality of scanning lines 101 and a direction that intersects each scanning line 101 at a substantially right angle. And a plurality of power lines 103 extending in parallel to each signal line 102, and sub-pixels X are formed in the vicinity of each intersection of the scanning line 101 and the signal line 102. Is. In the present invention, an active matrix using a TFT or the like is not essential, and simple matrix driving may be performed using an element substrate for a simple matrix.

A data line driving circuit 104 including a shift register, a level shifter, a video line, and an analog switch is connected to the signal line 102. Further, a scanning line driving circuit 105 including a shift register and a level shifter is connected to the scanning line 101.
Further, each of the sub-pixels X holds a switching TFT 112 to which a scanning signal is supplied to the gate electrode via the scanning line 101 and a pixel signal shared from the signal line 102 via the switching TFT 112. A capacitor 113, a driving TFT 123 to which a pixel signal held by the holding capacitor 113 is supplied to the gate electrode, and driving from the power line 103 when electrically connected to the power line 103 through the driving TFT 123 A pixel electrode (anode) 20 through which current flows and an organic functional layer 40 sandwiched between the pixel electrode 20 and the counter electrode (cathode) 60 are provided.

  Under such a configuration, when the scanning line 101 is driven and the switching TFT 112 is turned on, the organic EL device 1 holds the potential of the signal line 102 at that time in the storage capacitor 113, and the storage capacitor 113. Depending on the state, the on / off state of the driving TFT 123 is determined. Then, current flows from the power supply line 103 to the pixel electrode 20 through the channel of the driving TFT 123, and further current flows to the counter electrode 60 through the functional layer 40. Thereby, the organic light emitting layer which comprises the functional layer 40 light-emits according to the electric current amount which flows through this.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the organic EL device 1 according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the organic EL device 1 includes a substrate 10, and a pixel portion 130 having a rectangular shape in plan view is formed on the substrate 10. The pixel unit 130 is partitioned into an actual display area 140 in which the sub-pixels X are arranged in a matrix and a dummy area 150 arranged around the actual display area 140.

In this embodiment, the organic functional layer 40 included in each sub-pixel X is configured to emit white light. Accordingly, the sub-pixels X emit light of each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) by color filters corresponding to R, G, and B.
In the actual display area 140, the sub-pixels X of the same color are arranged in the vertical direction in the figure, and form a so-called stripe arrangement. In the actual pixel area 140, full-color display is enabled by mixing the light emitted from the sub-pixels X arranged in a matrix and having each color of RGB by a color filter.

  Scanning line driving circuits 105 are arranged on both sides of the actual display area 140 in FIG. 2, and these scanning line driving circuits 105 are arranged on the lower layer side of the dummy area 150. Further, an inspection circuit 160 is disposed on the upper side of the actual display area 140 in FIG. 2, and the inspection circuit 160 is disposed on the lower layer side of the dummy area 150. The inspection circuit 160 is a circuit for inspecting the operating state of the organic EL device 100 and includes, for example, inspection information output means (not shown) for outputting the inspection result to the outside, and is displayed during manufacture or at the time of shipment. It is configured to be able to inspect the quality and defects of the apparatus.

Next, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described as a specific configuration example of the organic EL device. 3 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the organic EL device of the present invention, FIG. 4 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 (b) is B in FIG. FIG. 4C is a sectional view taken along line B-B, and FIG. 4C is a sectional view taken along line C-C in FIG.
The organic EL device 1 according to the present embodiment has a plurality of sub-pixels X arranged in a vertical and horizontal direction in a plan view in a substantially rectangular shape (including an oval shape) as indicated by a broken line in FIG.

  The planar view shape of these subpixels X corresponds to the planar view shape of the pixel electrode (anode) 20 exposed in the opening of the partition wall 34, and the pixel electrode 20 is independent for each subpixel X in an island shape. Is formed. Therefore, the sub-pixels X are formed independently and function as independent light-emitting elements (organic EL elements).

  Further, in the organic EL device 1, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the base 13, the pixel electrode 20 formed on the base 13, and the periphery of the pixel electrode 20 are covered with the openings. An insulating film 32 that exposes and exposes the pixel electrode 20 in 32 a, the partition wall 34 that is formed on the insulating film 32 and surrounds the pixel electrode 20, and a functional layer that covers the exposed surface of the pixel electrode 20. 40 and a counter electrode 60 formed on the base 13 so as to cover the functional layer 40. In the present embodiment, the pixel electrode (anode) 20 exposed in the opening 32 a of the insulating film 32, the functional layer 40 disposed immediately above the pixel electrode (anode) 60, and the counter electrode (cathode) 60 covering the functional layer 40, An organic EL element 70 is formed. The organic EL element 70 forms the sub-pixel X (pixel portion). Therefore, the partition wall 34 partitions the sub-pixel X (pixel portion) made of the organic EL element 70. Further, in the organic EL device 1 of the present embodiment, a top emission method is employed in which light emitted from the organic EL element 70 is emitted to the counter electrode 60 side.

  The base 13 includes a substrate (element substrate) 10 and an element layer 11 that is formed on the substrate 10 and includes wiring, driving elements, and the like. Since the top emission method is adopted as the substrate 10 in this embodiment, either a transparent substrate or an opaque substrate can be used. Examples of opaque substrates include ceramics such as alumina, metal sheets such as stainless steel that have been subjected to insulation treatment such as surface oxidation, thermosetting resins and thermoplastic resins, and films thereof (plastic films). It is done. As the transparent substrate, for example, an inorganic substance such as glass, quartz glass, or silicon nitride, or an organic polymer (resin) such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin can be used. A composite material formed by laminating or mixing the materials can also be used. In the present embodiment, glass is used as the material of the substrate 10.

  The element layer 11 includes various wirings for driving the organic EL device 1, driving elements such as switching TFTs and driving TFTs shown in FIG. 1, and an insulating film made of an inorganic material or an organic material. Yes. Various wirings and driving elements are formed by patterning using a photolithography technique, an etching technique, etc., and the insulating film is formed by a known film forming method such as a vapor deposition method, a CVD method, or a sputtering method. ing.

  On the element layer 11, as shown in FIG. 4A, an electrode 22 connected to a source electrode of a driving TFT (not shown) included in the element layer 11 is formed. Further, a planarizing layer 12 is formed on the element layer 11 so as to cover the electrode 22. The planarization layer 12 is formed in order to eliminate unevenness due to each component formed in the element layer 11 and realize a flat surface suitable for forming an organic EL element. As a material for forming the planarizing layer 12, an organic insulating material such as acrylic resin or an inorganic insulating material is used.

  A contact hole 12a leading to the electrode 22 is formed in the planarizing layer 12, and a pixel electrode 20 is formed in a region on the planarizing layer 12 including the contact hole 12a. Thereby, the electrode 22 and the pixel electrode 20 are electrically connected via the conductive portion in the contact hole 12a.

  The pixel electrode 20 is formed of a material having a high hole injection effect with a work function of 5 eV or more. As such a material, for example, a metal oxide such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is used. In this embodiment, since the top emission method is adopted, the pixel electrode 20 does not need to have translucency. Therefore, in this embodiment, a light reflective metal layer such as Al is formed below the transparent conductive layer made of ITO to form a laminated structure, and the pixel electrode 20 is formed by this laminated structure. Such pixel electrodes 20 are formed into independent island shapes by being patterned by a known deposition method and then patterned.

The insulating film 32 is formed on the planarizing layer 12. As described above, the insulating film 32 partially covers the peripheral portion of the pixel electrode 20 to cover the peripheral portion, and exposes the pixel electrode 20 in the opening 32a. Here, the opening 32a is formed in a substantially rectangular shape (for example, an oval shape) in plan view, as indicated by a broken line in FIG.
The insulating film 32 is formed of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), silicon nitride (SiN), or silicon oxynitride (SiON), and is sufficiently thinner than the partition wall 34. The opening 32a is formed by a known patterning method such as etching. Therefore, almost no step is formed between the upper surface of the insulating film 32 and the upper surface of the pixel electrode 20 exposed in the opening 32a. Therefore, the upper surface of the insulating film 32 and the upper surface of the pixel electrode 20 are almost the same. A flat surface is formed.

  On the insulating film 32, a partition wall 34 is formed as shown in FIGS. The partition wall 34 is formed so as to cover almost the entire surface of the insulating film 32 only by exposing a part of the insulating film 32 riding on the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 20, and the opening 34a communicating with the opening 32a. Is formed. Therefore, the pixel electrode 20 is exposed in the opening 34a. The partition 34 is formed of an organic material such as acrylic resin, and is formed by a known patterning method.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, a projection-like (substantially cylindrical) mask spacer 37 is formed on the partition wall 34. The mask spacer 37 is formed of an acrylic resin or the like, and is selectively formed only on a part of the partition wall 34 as shown in FIG. That is, a formation region 38 and a non-formation region 39 of the mask spacer 37 are provided on the partition wall 34, and the mask spacer 37 is formed only in the formation region 38.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, in the length direction of the short side of the opening 34a, the formation region 38 of the mask spacer 37 is partitioned and formed at a predetermined narrow interval (for example, 2 mm interval). A non-formation region 39 of the mask spacer 37 is partitioned at a wide interval (for example, an interval of 4 mm). These formation regions 38 and non-formation regions 39 are alternately arranged. In the formation region 38, a mask spacer 37 is formed on the partition wall 34 between the openings 34a, 34a adjacent to each other in the length direction of the short side of the opening 34a as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the non-formation region 39, the mask spacer 37 is not formed on the partition wall 34 as shown in FIG.

  The organic functional layer 40 is formed on the pixel electrode 20 in the opening 34a, the partition wall 34 surrounding the pixel electrode 20, and the mask spacer 37 so as to cover them. In this embodiment, the organic functional layer 40 is formed including an organic light emitting layer made of a low molecular weight organic EL material. As such an organic functional layer 40, for example, a structure in which a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an organic light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer are sequentially stacked from the anode (pixel electrode 20) side is known. In addition, a structure in which the hole transport layer and the electron transport layer are omitted, a hole injection / transport layer having both functions of the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer, or an electron injection layer and an electron transport are used. A structure using an electron injection / transport layer having both functions of a layer is known. In the present invention, an appropriate structure is selected and formed from such structures.

Moreover, as a material of the organic functional layer 40, a well-known thing can each be used.
For example, as the material for the organic light emitting layer, in the present embodiment, a styrylamine light emitting material, a styrylamine light emitting material, or the like is used as an organic light emitting material that emits white light.
Furthermore, as the material for the hole injection layer, triarylamine (ATP) multimers are used, and as the material for the hole transport layer, TDP (triphenyldiamine) -based materials are used. Aluminum quinolinol (Alq3) or the like is used as the material for the transport layer.

  Here, each organic layer constituting such an organic functional layer is formed by an evaporation method using a mask (metal mask) in the present embodiment. At this time, since each organic layer is common to all the openings 34a, a large opening is formed so that the same material is deposited on all the openings 34a without changing the material in the entire area (entire surface) of the actual display region 140. Vapor deposition is performed using a mask. As a result, these materials (organic functional layer materials) are deposited and adhered on the partition walls 34 and the mask spacers 37 thereon as described above.

  On the organic functional layer 40 (including the mask spacer 37), a counter electrode (cathode) 60 is formed so as to cover the organic functional layer 40. The counter electrode 60 is a top emission type in the present embodiment, and is formed so as to have light transmittance since it is on the light extraction side. The counter electrode 60 is connected to a cathode contact portion connected to a cathode extraction terminal (not shown).

  Based on such a configuration, the organic EL element 70 including the pixel electrode 20, the functional layer 40, and the counter electrode 60 is formed. That is, when a voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 20 and the counter electrode 60, holes are injected from the pixel electrode 20 into the hole injection layer and transported to the organic light emitting layer through the hole transport layer. Further, electrons are injected from the counter electrode 60 into the electron injection layer and transported to the organic light emitting layer through the electron transport layer. Then, the holes and electrons transported to the organic light emitting layer are recombined, so that the organic light emitting layer emits light.

  The light emitted from the organic light emitting layer to the pixel electrode 20 side is transmitted through the transparent conductive layer, reflected by the light reflective metal layer, and incident again on the organic light emitting layer side. Since the counter electrode 20 functions as a transflective film, light other than a wavelength in a predetermined range is reflected to the light reflective metal layer side and reciprocates between the counter electrode 60 and the light reflective metal layer. In this way, only light having a resonance wavelength corresponding to the optical distance between the counter electrode 60 and the light reflective metal layer is amplified and extracted. In other words, the space between the counter electrode 60 and the light-reflecting metal layer that functions as a resonator can emit light having a high emission luminance and a sharp spectrum. . Here, the optical distance is obtained by the sum of the optical distances of the layers included between the counter electrode 60 and the light-reflecting metal layer, and the optical distance of each layer is determined by the film thickness and the refractive index. Calculated by product.

In this embodiment, the counter electrode 60 is formed by co-evaporation using a mask such that magnesium (Mg) and silver (Ag), for example, have a film thickness ratio of Mg: Ag = 10: 1. It is formed to a thickness of about 12 nm.
Therefore, as described above, the counter electrode material (Mg · Ag) is deposited and adhered also on the partition wall 34 and the mask spacer 37.

  On the counter electrode 60, an inorganic film 62 made of an insulating film is provided. In this embodiment, the inorganic film 62 is formed of insulating silicon oxynitride (SiON). Further, the inorganic film 62 is formed only in the formation region 38 of the mask spacer 37 described above. That is, the inorganic film 62 is selectively formed in the formation region 38 by an ion plating method or a sputtering method using a mask. Therefore, on the mask spacer 37 in the formation region 38, as described above, the formation material of the inorganic film 62 is deposited and adhered to cover the organic functional layer material and counter electrode material deposited and adhered here.

  Further, auxiliary wiring (auxiliary counter electrode) 50 is formed on the counter electrode 60 (including the inorganic film 62) as shown in FIGS. That is, the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed on the inorganic film 62 in the formation region 38 of the mask spacer 37, and the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed on the counter electrode 60 in the non-formation region 39 of the mask spacer 37. . The auxiliary wiring 50 is formed on the partition wall 34 along the length direction of the short side of the subpixel X, and is formed of a material having higher conductivity than the counter electrode 60. Specifically, a low-resistance metal material such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, or chromium is used as the highly conductive material.

In this embodiment, it is selectively formed of Al by a vapor deposition method using a mask (mask vapor deposition method). That is, on the partition wall 34, the stripes are formed in a direction orthogonal to the long side of the sub-pixel X. The auxiliary wiring 50 is formed to be sufficiently thick, for example, about 200 nm compared to the thickness of the counter electrode 60.
The counter electrode 60 is connected to a cathode contact portion connected to a cathode extraction terminal (not shown). The auxiliary wiring 50 may also be connected to the cathode contact portion.

  Although not shown, a planarization layer made of an epoxy resin or the like is formed on the surface of the counter electrode 60, the inorganic film 62, and the auxiliary wiring 50 by screen printing so as to cover them. Further, a transparent sealing layer for blocking moisture and oxygen is formed on the planarizing layer, and a transparent sealing substrate such as glass is provided on the transparent sealing layer via a transparent adhesive. Are pasted together. In the present embodiment, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filters are formed on the sealing substrate. The transparent sealing layer is formed to have a gas barrier layer and a protective layer formed so as to cover the gas barrier layer. The gas barrier layer is made of an inorganic compound such as silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or silicon oxide, and the protective layer is a flexible resin having a low glass transition point, such as urethane, acrylic, epoxy, or polyolefin. It is made of material.

  In manufacturing the organic EL device 1 having such a configuration, in order to form the organic functional layer 40, a hole injection / transport layer, an organic light emitting layer, and an electron transport / injection layer are sequentially formed by the same vapor deposition method. Form. At that time, each forming material of the organic functional layer 40 is deposited on the entire surface so as to cover the pixel electrode 20 formed in the same manner as in the past and also cover the partition wall 34 (including the mask spacer 37).

Next, an MgAg co-deposition film is formed to cover the organic functional layer 40 by the same co-evaporation method as in the past, and the counter electrode 60 is formed. When the organic functional layer 40 and the counter electrode 60 are formed in this way, the organic functional layer material and the counter electrode material are deposited and adhered on the mask spacer 37 in the formation region 38, respectively.
Next, silicon oxynitride (SiON) is formed only in the formation region 38 on the counter electrode 60 by an ion plating method using a mask, and the inorganic film 62 is selectively formed. Then, on the mask spacer 37 in the formation region 38, as described above, the organic functional layer material and counter electrode material deposited and attached here are covered, and the formation material for the inorganic film 62 is further deposited and attached.

  Next, Al was selectively formed on the counter electrode 60 (including the inorganic film 62) using an evaporation mask 85 as shown in FIG. 5 as shown in FIG. Thus, the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed. At this time, a vapor deposition mask 85 in which a large number of slits 86 corresponding to the auxiliary wiring 50 are formed intermittently is used. Then, after performing vapor deposition using this, vapor deposition is performed again with a slight shift in the length direction of the slit 86. Thereby, the intermittent auxiliary wiring formed by the slit 86 is made continuous between adjacent ones, thereby forming a desired continuous auxiliary wiring 50 as shown in FIG.

At this time, in order to form the auxiliary wiring 50 in a continuous state without being displaced, the vapor deposition mask 85 is disposed on the mask spacer 37 on the counter electrode 60 and selectively formed directly on the partition wall 34 with high accuracy. To do.
When the vapor deposition mask 85 is arranged on the mask spacer 37 in this manner, the counter electrode material or the organic functional layer material adhered on the mask spacer 37 may adhere to the vapor deposition mask 85 and be transferred.
However, in this embodiment, since the inorganic film 62 is provided directly on the mask spacer 37 so as to cover the counter electrode 60, the counter electrode material and the organic functional layer material adhered on the mask spacer 37 are transferred to the vapor deposition mask 85. Is prevented.

  Therefore, in the organic EL device 1 of the present embodiment, since the inorganic film 62 is provided between the counter electrode 60 and the auxiliary counter electrode 50, a vapor deposition mask is formed when the auxiliary counter electrode 50 is formed by a vapor deposition method. Even if 85 is closely attached to the mask spacer 37, the counter electrode 60 and the organic function adhered to the mask spacer 37 are provided on the mask spacer 37 by providing the inorganic film 62 so as to cover the counter electrode 60. The layer material is prevented from being transferred to the vapor deposition mask 85. Therefore, light emitting defects caused by these materials adhering to the vapor deposition mask 85 are prevented, and the display performance is high.

  Further, the partition wall 34 is partitioned into a formation region 38 in which the mask spacer 37 is formed and a non-formation region 39 in which the mask spacer 37 is not formed, and the inorganic film 62 is used as an insulating film and selectively formed on the formation region 38. Since it is formed, since the inorganic film 62 made of an insulating film is not formed in the non-forming region 39, the auxiliary counter electrode 50 is connected to the counter electrode 60 in the non-forming region 39 and becomes conductive. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a contact hole in the inorganic film 62, and the structure can be simplified.

Next, a second embodiment of the organic EL device of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the organic EL device of the present invention. 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line D-D in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG. 6. The second embodiment shown in these figures differs from the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in the second embodiment where the entire real display area 140 is formed in the area where the mask spacer 37 is formed (see FIG. Therefore, a mask spacer 37 is formed over the entire partition 34 in the actual display region 140, and an inorganic film 62 is formed over the entire partition 34 where the mask spacer 37 is formed.

  However, in the present embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the inorganic film 62 is made of a conductive film instead of an insulating film. That is, in this embodiment, ITO (indium tin oxide) is used as the inorganic film 62. The inorganic film 62 made of ITO is formed over the entire area of the partition wall 34 by ion plating using a mask, sputtering, or the like. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, on the mask spacer 37, the organic functional layer material and counter electrode material deposited and attached here are covered and further the material for forming the inorganic film 62 is deposited and attached.

  Under the inorganic film 62, a counter electrode 60 is formed as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, and further on the inorganic film 62, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7B. As shown, an auxiliary wiring (auxiliary counter electrode) 50 is formed. That is, in the present embodiment, the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed in the entire real display area 140, and the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed on the partition wall 34 along the length direction of the short side of the subpixel X. .

Also in this embodiment, the auxiliary wiring 50 is selectively formed of Al by a vapor deposition method using the vapor deposition mask 85, as in the first embodiment.
Therefore, when forming the auxiliary wiring 50, the deposition mask 85 is disposed on the mask spacer 37 on the inorganic film 62 so that the auxiliary wiring 50 is formed in a continuous state without being displaced. Selectively formed.

When the vapor deposition mask 85 is arranged on the mask spacer 37 in this manner, the counter electrode material or the organic functional layer material adhered on the mask spacer 37 may adhere to the vapor deposition mask 85 and be transferred.
However, also in this embodiment, since the inorganic film 62 is provided directly on the mask spacer 37 so as to cover the counter electrode 60, the counter electrode material and the organic functional layer material attached on the mask spacer 37 are transferred to the vapor deposition mask 85. Is prevented.

  Therefore, even in the organic EL device of this embodiment, since the inorganic film 62 is provided between the counter electrode 60 and the auxiliary counter electrode 50, the deposition mask 85 is formed when the auxiliary counter electrode 50 is formed by a deposition method. Although the inorganic film 62 is provided directly on the mask spacer 37 so as to cover the counter electrode 60, the counter electrode material and the organic functional layer adhered on the mask spacer 37 are provided. The material is prevented from being transferred to the vapor deposition mask 85. Therefore, light emitting defects caused by these materials adhering to the vapor deposition mask 85 are prevented, and the display performance is high.

  In addition, since the inorganic film 62 is formed of ITO, which is a conductive film, the inorganic film 62 also functions as an auxiliary counter electrode. Therefore, the resistance of the entire counter electrode (cathode) 60 including the auxiliary wiring 50 is further reduced. Can be achieved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in this invention, the structure which combined the said 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment is employable. That is, as in the first embodiment, when the actual display area 140 is partitioned into the formation area 38 and the non-formation area 39 of the mask spacer 37, first, in the entire area of the actual display area 140, the same as in the second embodiment. An inorganic film made of a conductive film (ITO) is provided on the counter electrode. Next, an inorganic film made of an insulating film (silicon oxynitride) is selectively provided on the conductive film (inorganic film) only in the formation region 38 of the mask spacer 37.

As a result, an inorganic film made of a conductive film and an inorganic film made of an insulating film are stacked immediately above the mask spacer 37.
Therefore, when the auxiliary wiring 50 is vapor-deposited using the vapor deposition mask 85, the counter electrode material and the organic functional layer material attached on the mask spacer 37 are more reliably prevented from being transferred to the vapor deposition mask 85. become.
Note that for the inorganic film having such a stacked structure, an insulating film may be provided over the counter electrode, and a conductive film may be provided thereover, or a stacked film including three or more layers may be used.

  In each of the above embodiments, the organic light emitting layer that emits white light is formed and light of each color of RGB is emitted by the color filter. However, as the material for forming the organic light emitting layer, light of each color of RGB is emitted. The materials to be applied may be separately applied to form three types of organic light emitting layers, and the formation of the color filter may be omitted.

(Electronics)
Next, the electronic apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic apparatus using the organic EL device. A cellular phone 1300 shown in FIG. 8 includes the above-described organic EL device of the present invention as a small-sized display unit 1301, and includes a plurality of operation buttons 1302, an earpiece 1303, and a mouthpiece 1304. Thereby, it becomes the outstanding mobile telephone 1300 which comprised the display part comprised by the organic electroluminescent apparatus of this invention.

  The organic EL device of the present invention is not limited to the mobile phone, but an electronic book, a projector, a personal computer, a digital still camera, a television receiver, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, It can be suitably used as an image display means for pagers, electronic notebooks, calculators, word processors, workstations, videophones, POS terminals, devices with touch panels, and the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Organic EL device, 10 ... Substrate, 20 ... Pixel electrode, 34 ... Partition, 37 ... Mask spacer, 38 ... Formation region, 39 ... Non-formation region, 40 ... Organic functional layer, 50 ... Auxiliary wiring (auxiliary counter electrode) 60 ... Counter electrode, 62 ... Inorganic film

Claims (4)

An organic EL device including an organic E element having an organic functional layer including at least an organic light emitting layer between a pixel electrode and a counter electrode,
The pixel electrode provided on the substrate;
A partition wall surrounding the pixel electrode;
A protruding mask spacer provided on the partition;
The organic functional layer provided on the pixel electrode and the partition;
The counter electrode provided on the organic functional layer;
An auxiliary counter electrode provided on the counter electrode located immediately above the partition;
An organic EL device comprising: an inorganic film provided between the counter electrode and the auxiliary counter electrode. The partition is partitioned into a formation region in which the mask spacer is formed and a non-formation region in which the mask spacer is not formed,
2. The organic EL device according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film is made of an insulating film and is selectively formed on the formation region.   The organic EL device according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film is made of a conductive film.   An electronic apparatus comprising the organic EL device according to claim 1.

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